DiamondRock to Buy 4 Blackstone Hotels for $495 Million

DiamondRock Hospitality Co. (DRH), a U.S. real estate investment trust, said it agreed to buy four hotels from Blackstone Group LP (BX) for about $495 million in cash and stock, adding to its portfolio of 23 hotels.

The properties are the Hilton Boston, Westin Washington D.C., Westin San Diego and the Hilton in Burlington, Vermont, DiamondRock said today in a statement.

Blackstone will receive about $420 million in cash and $75 million of DiamondRock stock when the deal is completed, scheduled for later this month. The shares are equivalent to about a 4 percent stake in DiamondRock at the Bethesda, Maryland-based company’s current market value.

The hotels are from the Columbia Sussex portfolio that Blackstone seized in December 2010 after buying junior debt tied to the assets. The sale is being made by affiliates of the Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI fund, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at hyu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net